How many vehicles does Sales actually use? That is the kind of question you assume is already answered before you ask it. The table shows which person belongs to which vehicle, and it is well maintained — no gaps, nothing null. What it does not tell you is whether that person was assigned the car or actually drove it, and the answer turns on exactly that.
In most projects the first table exists before the first definition. That is understandable — you can show a table, while a definition first has to be agreed on. And that agreement decides whether you end up with answers or with numbers three departments argue about.
"Michael, I have a simple question." Silvia Seven, CFO of FastChangeCo, pushes the project status deck aside. "How many projects have redefined what a 'customer' is from scratch in the last two years?" Michael Mueller swallows. He knows the answer. And it's uncomfortable.
"Do we actually still need data modelers if AI can take over?" The question came up after a coaching session. I paused. Not because the question was fundamentally wrong — but because it was the wrong question.
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